What Are the Best Ways to Track Boards and Committees in Raiser’s Edge NXT?

Let’s be honest, your board and committee rosters probably live in a mix of spreadsheets, sticky notes, and emails labeled “URGENT – WHO’S STILL ON THE FINANCE COMMITTEE??”

Tracking your organization’s board members and committee assignments in Raiser’s Edge NXT shouldn’t be a scavenger hunt. But without a solid system in place, it’s easy to lose track of who’s serving where, for how long, and what they’ve been asked to do.

The good news? You don’t need custom coding or a third-party plugin to manage it all. With a smart mix of constituent codes, attributes, and actions, you can track board service, committee participation, and engagement—right inside RE NXT.

In this guide, we’ll walk through each option step by step, so you can ditch the spreadsheets and finally get your governance data under control.

Q: I’ve got board members. I’ve got committees. I’ve got no idea how to track any of them in Raiser’s Edge NXT. Where do I start?

A: You’re not alone. Many organizations have board rosters, advisory committees, and short-term task forces—but no consistent way to track them. The good news? You can set this up in RE NXT using three flexible tools: Constituent Codes, Attributes, and Actions.

These tools let you tag, filter, and report on board and committee involvement—without messy workarounds or custom tables.

Q: How should I use Constituent Codes to track board members?

A: Constituent Codes are perfect for identifying your current and former board members. They allow you to report on who’s serving now, who’s rotated off, and who might need a follow-up invite.

• Create two codes: Current Board Member and Former Board Member.
• Assign these to the appropriate records under each constituent profile.
• Use these codes in queries or lists to filter and segment.

Example: Need to email all current board members for an upcoming meeting? Run a quick query using the Current Board Member code.

Q: What about committees? Some are long-term, others are short-term. What’s the best practice?

A: Great question! It depends on the type of committee:

• Long-term or formal committees (e.g. Finance Committee, Governance Committee):
  Use Constituent Codes like Committee Member or specific titles if needed.
• Ad hoc or seasonal committees (e.g. Gala Planning, 2025 Junior League Committee):
  Use Attributes instead. These are more flexible and allow you to track term dates.

Here’s how:

1. Create an attribute category called Committees.
2. Add individual committees as attribute values.
3. Use the Comment field to include the active date range (e.g., “Gala Committee – Spring 2025”).

Note: Some users find it helpful to use Volunteer Type to track committee involvement, especially when monitoring years of membership. As one fundraiser shared, “I’ve found using Volunteer Type to be a better way and area to track the years of membership. But it can definitely be done via attributes.” If your organization already uses the Volunteer module, that may be another route worth considering.

Bonus: Attributes support multiple entries, so constituents can be part of multiple committees at once.

Q: Can I track when someone’s term starts or ends?

A: Yes, and it’s important to do so! You can:

• Use the Comment field on the Committee attribute to include term dates.
• For more structured data, you can also track term start/end dates in Actions or custom fields (if you’re using eTapestry or have access to User Defined Fields).

If you’re a power user or tracking lots of turnover, creating date-specific custom fields for board terms may be worth the extra setup.

Q: How do Actions help with board and committee tracking?

A: Actions are where engagement tracking really shines.

You can use Actions to record:

• Attendance at board or committee meetings
• Assigned tasks (like “Review Annual Report”)
• Follow-ups, calls, or check-ins

Use the Action Type or Status field to track progress (e.g., “Assigned,” “Completed,” “In Progress”).

Example: Want to know who attended three or more meetings this year? Filter by Action Type and Date.

Q: What’s the easiest way to report on all this?

A: Once you’ve applied codes, attributes, and actions consistently, reporting is simple:

• Use Web View queries to pull active board members.
• Filter constituents by attribute to isolate specific committee rosters.
• Create summary fields for actions to see overall participation.

Bonus tip: Pin your most-used board or committee queries to your homepage for fast access before meetings or end-of-year reports.

Tracking board members and committees in Raiser’s Edge NXT doesn’t have to be a hassle. With a thoughtful setup using Constituent Codes, Attributes, and Actions, you’ll be able to:

• Keep clean rosters
• Monitor engagement
• Report with confidence

Whether you’re prepping for a major event, building your annual report, or just trying to keep everything straight—these tools will save you time and headaches.